Bucket-Mountable Caddy

ABSTRACT

A product holder for mounting on a bucket is disclosed having a support member, a pocket member, and a sheet product dispenser. The support member is conformable to an exterior surface of the bucket and includes fasteners at opposing ends thereof to securely hold the support member to the bucket. The pocket member is securely attached to the support member to form a pocket therewith for receiving and supporting a tool therein. The sheet product dispenser is securely attached to the support member for receiving and dispensing a sheet product, and includes a container body and a container lid openable and closeable with respect to the container body.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates generally to a bucket-mountable caddy, and particularly to a bucket-mountable caddy having a sheet product dispenser integrally arranged therewith.

Hand-tool carrying devices presently on the market include hard plastic tool boxes, soft leather or fabric tool bags, and soft tool-storage units designed to fit over and inside of an empty five gallon plastic bucket or pail. Typical bucket-supported tool-storage units have a variety of pockets on the inside and outside of the bucket, where the bucket serves as the frame and support for the tool-storage unit. Such tool organizers are useful for transporting and storing tools, utensils, or other useful implements, and often have a number of individual pockets or dividers arranged about both the interior and/or exterior portions of the bucket. While existing bucket-supported tool-carrying devices may be suitable for their intended purpose, such a purpose does not extend to the use of the bucket for its original purpose, such as carrying liquid or other flowable material for example, and does not extend to the use of implements other than tools.

Accordingly, there remains a need in the art for a bucket-mountable caddy that overcomes these drawbacks.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the invention includes a product holder for mounting on a bucket, and includes a support member, a pocket member, and a sheet product dispenser. The support member is conformable to an exterior surface of the bucket and includes fasteners at opposing ends thereof to securely hold the support member to the bucket. The pocket member is securely attached to the support member to form a pocket therewith for receiving and supporting a tool therein. The sheet product dispenser is securely attached to the support member for receiving and dispensing a sheet product, and includes a container body and a container lid openable and closeable with respect to the container body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring to the exemplary drawings wherein like elements are numbered alike in the accompanying Figures:

FIG. 1 depicts in isometric view a bucket-mountable caddy in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 2 and 3 depict a side view of the bucket-mountable caddy of FIG. 1 mounted to a bucket in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 4 and 5 depict in isometric view fasteners for use in accordance with embodiments of the invention; and

FIG. 6 depicts in isometric view a sheet product retainer in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the invention, as shown and described by the various figures and accompanying text, provides a bucket-mountable tool/product caddy that provides pockets and sleeves for holding tools, cleaners, lubricants, for example, and a sheet product dispenser for dispensing shop towels, paper towels, wet wipes, for example.

FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 depict an exemplary embodiment of a tool/product holder 100 for mounting on a bucket 105, which in an embodiment is a five gallon bucket typically used for joint compound mix or paint for example, and then used as a utility bucket once emptied. However, it will be appreciated that the product holder 100 disclosed herein is not limited to the bucket 105 being empty, and may actually be employed with bucket 105 that is filled or partially filled with a liquid or flowable material. Since the product holder 100 is intended to be used in conjunction with a five-gallon bucket, empty or otherwise, the product holder 100 is so dimensioned as to be attachable to an exterior surface of a five gallon bucket.

The product holder 100 includes a support member 110 conformable to an exterior surface 115 of the bucket 105, where the support member 110 has fasteners 120 at opposing ends thereof to securely hold the support member 110 to the bucket 105. In an embodiment, fasteners 120 are engageable latches, such as a plastic snap buckle 121 as shown in FIG. 4, a plastic ladder-type buckle 122 as shown in FIG. 5, or any other fastener suitable for the purposes disclosed herein. At least one pocket member 125 is securely attached to the support member 110 to form a pocket 130 therewith, which is used for receiving and supporting a tool 135 therein. While FIG. 2 depicts tool 135, such as a hammer for example, disposed within the pocket 130, it will be appreciated that the same may be disposed within the bucket 105. It will also be appreciated that the pocket 130 is not limited for holding tools, but may also be used for holding bottles of cleaning solution, spray cans of lubricant, or any other utensil or product suitable for the purposes disclosed herein in connection with use of the tool/product holder 100. A sheet product dispenser 140 is also securely attached to the support member 110 for receiving and dispensing a sheet product, where the sheet product dispenser 140 has a container body 145 and a container lid 150 openable and closeable with respect to the container body 145.

An embodiment of the sheet product dispenser 140 is suitable for dispensing any type of sheet product, dry or dampened. As used herein, the term “sheet product” is inclusive of natural and/or synthetic cloth or paper sheets. Sheet products may include both woven and non-woven articles. There are a wide variety of nonwoven processes and they can be either wetlaid or drylaid. Some examples include hydroentagled (sometimes called spunlace), DRC (double re-creped), airlaid, spunbond, carded, paper towel, and meltblown sheet products. Further, sheet products may contain fibrous cellulosic materials that may be derived from natural sources, such as wood pulp fibers, as well as other fibrous material characterized by having hydroxyl groups attached to the polymer backbone. These include glass fibers and synthetic fibers modified with hydroxyl groups. Examples of sheet products include, but are not limited to, wipers, wet-wipes, napkins, tissues, rolls, towels or other fibrous, film, polymer, or filamentary products.

In general sheet products are thin in comparison to their length and breadth and exhibit a relatively flat planar configuration and are flexible to permit folding, rolling, stacking, and the like. The sheet product may have perforations extending in lines across its width to separate individual sheets and facilitate separation or tearing of individual sheets from a roll or folded arrangement at discrete intervals. Individual sheets may be sized as desired to accommodate the many uses of the sheet products.

With a dampened sheet product, the sheet may be dampened with any type of flowable product, such as lotion, detergent, antiseptic agent, cleaning agent, or any other flowable product capable of being absorbed by the sheet product, for example. Where a dampened sheet product is to be employed, the sheet product dispenser 140 is made from a material impermeable to liquids, such as a plastic material for example, which may be thermoplastic or thermoset-plastic.

In an embodiment, the container lid 150 is attached to the container body 145 via a hinge or a living hinge 155 disposed on an outer face 160 of the sheet product dispenser 140 such that the container lid 150 pivots away from the bucket 105 upon opening the sheet product dispenser 140 (best seen by referring to FIG. 3). As used herein, a living hinge is intended to mean a very thin section of plastic used to connect two parts and keep them together while allowing them to open and close, or more generally to mean a thin section of material that bends to allow movement between to adjoining sections of the same material.

Whether the sheet product is dampened or not, it may be desirable to have a sheet product retainer 205 (see FIG. 6) securely placed, via a friction fit for example, within opening 210 (see FIG. 3) of container body 145. The sheet product retainer 205 has an opening 215, star-shaped opening for example, through which the sheet product is dispensed, where the opening 215 is sized to gently retain a portion of the next sheet product to be dispensed so that the next sheet product to be dispensed does not fall back into the container body 145, thereby providing for ease of access by a user to the next sheet product to be dispensed. As can be seen by comparing the sheet product retainer 205 of FIG. 6 with the profile of the container body 145 in FIG. 1, the sheet product retainer 205 has a contour 220 that matches an inner contour (a mirror to exterior surface 195 for example) of container body 145. While sheet product retainer 205 is disclosed herein to have the star-shaped opening 215, it will be appreciated that this is for illustration purposes only and that any shaped opening suitable for the purposes disclosed herein is also within the scope of the claimed invention. In an embodiment, sheet product retainer 205 is made of a thin flexible material, such as plastic for example, that will not unintentionally tear the sheet product as it is dispensed.

To more securely attach the product holder 100 to the bucket 105, an embodiment of the product holder 100 includes a friction band 165 disposed proximate an interior surface 170 of the support member 110 such that the friction band 165 is compressed against the exterior surface 115 of the bucket 105 when the product holder 100 is mounted and secured thereto. In an embodiment, the friction band 165 is made from an elastomeric material, such as but not limited to a rubber material for example. Use of a strap 190 made from a semi-stretchable material, such as woven nylon for example, to attach the fasteners 120 to the support member 110 facilitates a tighter fit of the product holder 100 to the bucket 105, where the straps 190 are stretched and then latched to the bucket 105 in a state of tension.

As discussed above, at least one pocket member 125 is securely attached to the support member 110 to form pocket 130 therewith, which implies that the support member 110 may have attached thereto more than one pocket member, which is depicted literally in FIG. 2 as pocket members 125, 126. However, it will be appreciated to one skilled in the art that support member 110 may include more than two pocket members 125, 126, the quantity of which being limited by the circumference of the bucket 105 and the desired size of each pocket member 125, 126 relative to the bucket circumference. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is not limited to only the two pockets illustrated.

In addition to pocket members 125, 126, the product support member 110 of the product holder 100 may also have a sleeve member 175 securely attached to the support member 110 to provide a sleeve having two open ends 180, 185 for receiving and supporting a tool (such as a screwdriver not shown) that can be inserted into one of the open ends 180 and that can extend beyond the second open end 185.

As best seen from FIG. 1, the sheet product dispenser 140 has the exterior surface 195 on a side proximate the support member 110 with a contour that mirrors contour 200 of the exterior surface 115 of the bucket 105, which allows the sheet product dispenser 140 to be made from a material, such as plastic for example, that is more rigid than the conformable support member 110, which in an embodiment may be made from leather or woven nylon for example, while permitting the entire product holder 100 to fit uniformly against the outer contour of the bucket 105 when secured thereto.

As best seen from FIG. 2, the sheet product dispenser 140 is so dimensioned as to not extend beyond the bottom of the bucket 105 when the support member 110 and sheet product dispenser 140 are securely attached to the bucket 105, as seen by reference to gap “d”, which in an embodiment may actually be no gap at all, that is, the bottom of the sheet product dispenser 140 is flush with the bottom of the bucket 105.

While certain combinations of pockets and sleeves have been described herein in combination with the sheet product dispenser of the product holder, it will be appreciated that these certain combinations are for illustration purposes only and that any type of utility holder in combination with the sheet product dispenser may be employed in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Any and all such combinations are contemplated herein and are considered within the scope of the invention disclosed.

While embodiments of the invention have been described employing a five gallon bucket for attaching the product holder to, it will be appreciated that the scope of the invention is not so limited, and that the invention also applies to use of the product holder with other support structures suitable for strapping the product holder to, such as a pail for example, where such other support structures are not necessarily circular in shape.

As disclosed, some embodiments of the invention may include some of the following advantages: a bucket-mountable caddy that is securely strapped to the exterior surface of an empty five-gallon bucket or pail, thereby permitting the bucket or pail to be filled or partially filled with a liquid or flowable product without interfering with the tools or utensils stored in the caddy; and, a bucket-mountable caddy that provides, in addition to tool/utensil/container storage, easy access to sheet products contained within an integrally arranged sheet product dispenser.

While the invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best or only mode contemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims. Also, in the drawings and the description, there have been disclosed exemplary embodiments of the invention and, although specific terms may have been employed, they are unless otherwise stated used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention therefore not being so limited. Moreover, the use of the terms first, second, etc. do not denote any order or importance, but rather the terms first, second, etc. are used to distinguish one element from another. Furthermore, the use of the terms a, an, etc. do not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote the presence of at least one of the referenced item. 

1. A product holder for mounting on a bucket, comprising: a support member conformable to an exterior surface of the bucket, the support member having fasteners at opposing ends thereof to securely hold the support member to the bucket; a pocket member securely attached to the support member to form a pocket therewith for receiving and supporting a tool therein; and a sheet product dispenser securely attached to the support member for receiving and dispensing a sheet product, the sheet product dispenser having a container body and a container lid openable and closeable with respect to the container body.
 2. The product holder of claim 1, wherein the support member is so dimensioned as to be attachable to the exterior surface of a five gallon bucket.
 3. The product holder of claim 1, wherein the sheet product dispenser is made from a material impermeable to liquids.
 4. The product holder of claim 3, wherein the impermeable material is a plastic material.
 5. The product holder of claim 1, wherein the container lid is attached to the container body via a hinge disposed on an outer face of the sheet product dispenser such that the lid pivots away from the bucket upon opening the sheet product dispenser.
 6. The product holder of claim 5, wherein the container lid is attached to the container body via a living hinge.
 7. The product holder of claim 1, further comprising a friction band disposed on an interior surface of the support member such that the friction band is compressed against the exterior surface of the bucket when the product holder is mounted and secured thereto.
 8. The product holder of claim 7, wherein the friction band is made from an elastomeric material.
 9. The product holder of claim 8, wherein the elastomeric material is a rubber material.
 10. The product holder of claim 1, wherein the pocket member is one of a plurality of pocket members.
 11. The product holder of claim 1, further comprising a sleeve member securely attached to the support member to provide a sleeve having two open ends for receiving and supporting the tool that can be inserted into one of the open ends and can extend beyond the second open end.
 12. The product holder of claim 1, wherein the latches are attached to the opposing ends of the support member via a semi-stretchable material such that the support member is securable to the bucket under tension.
 13. The product holder of claim 1, wherein the sheet product dispenser has the exterior surface proximate the support member with a contour that mirrors the contour of the outer surface of the bucket.
 14. The product holder of claim 13, wherein the sheet product dispenser is made from a material that is more rigid than the conformable support member.
 15. The product holder of claim 1, wherein the sheet product dispenser is so dimensioned as to not extend beyond the bottom of the bucket when the support member and sheet product dispenser are securely attached to the bucket.
 16. The product holder of claim 1, wherein the fasteners are engageable latches.
 17. The product holder of claim 1, further comprising a sheet product retainer disposed within the container body so as to retain a next-sheet-product-to-be-dispensed from falling back into the container body. 